Thailand Day 6: Patong for One

Thai Travels, S01E06 (Season Finale).
Based on a true story

 [Sorry this update took so long. I hope it was worth the wait.]

Patong

When I woke up for the second time (the first time was to say goodbye to the girls) I woke up with the familiar feeling of ‘Where am I?’. I quickly realized where I was and, moreover, I realized the girls had left so gone were the ball and chain! (Not true in the slightest, but for amusement’s sake I’ll say it anyway).

I started off with a wonderful breakfast of eggs, French toast, coffee and fresh juice. That’s how you do it, people! I figured Patong could keep me busy for a day without having to plan anything and I was right. To quote myself (with proper annotation):

“The girls have left, so one final day on my own in Thailand before I go back to Indonesia. Maybe a massage, a pedi, some shopping... You know, the things boys do when there aren't any girls around.” (Facebook, August 22^nd , via mobile)

The above states exactly what I did. Both Ida, our housekeeper, and Edi, our driver, requested specific items so I set out to find those items for them. A quick note: they didn’t ask anyone else to bring them something back, so I’m not sure whether that says something about my kindness or gullibility. In either case, I was happy to oblige.

My Thai massage was wonderful although something weird happened. You might know that during a Thai massage, the masseuse stands and/or sits on you to reach the deep knots in your muscles. Good stuff as I don’t care for that soft approach where you wonder whether you are being petted like a dog or whether it is actually the massage. However, this particular girl, every time she stood or sat on me, kept telling me her body weight. Like I care, woman!

I like to think he died because of a Thai mouse-ssage

At the same place I got a pedi so not only was my body in a state of relaxation, my feet were looking goo-ood! No nail-polish obviously, but between you and me, I have thought about how a color would look on my toes on more than one occasion. Also, free WiFi (scarce as it is in Palembang, especially if it’s working) while your feet are being pampered is simply a good thing.

After that it was already time for lunch, so that’s what I did next. After that, I just walked around and (window-) shopped. The internet told me where to find a good tailor, so that’s where I went. I picked out an amazing color (you can see the result below) and would pick it up after dinner that night. Boom!

For dinner, TripAdvisor told me to find a specific Italian restaurant and eat there. I did and it was amazing – I had an amazing glass of red wine (nearly impossible to find here), a wonderful pizza (with actual pork salami) and coasted along in my book. This was my set-up:

After dinner I strolled along the busy streets of Patong, crowding with soon-to-be-drunk tourists, had a chat with some but after that went back to the hotel; the day after was going to be early.

And early it was, as I woke up at 5:30. Damnit! The trip back to Palembang was uneventful aside from two things: at Kuala Lumpur I nearly missed the boarding (whoops!) and at Palembang I was once again confronted with racism on an institutional level (and subsequently, spontaneous kindness of strangers). I don’t think writing about Indonesian immigration procedures on a for-all-to-see blog is the most sensible thing to do, so I’ll owe you my story. I will tell you however not everyone is as charmed by my lovely Caucasian complexion and equally lovely blue eyes as I am myself (barf!).

Upon exiting Palembang’s airport I found out my bargaining-with-taxi-drivers-skills had improved – 

I am now able get home cheaper with a fixed price (and not quite legal) taxi than with the metered taxis we usually take on the way over to the airport. Yay for me!

Home alone and I was ready to get out again. Anggie made me experience KFC coffee (actually good coffee!), we had dinner and I got some groceries. I wasn’t happy leaving amazing Thailand, but it felt good to see several of my friends again over the next couple of days.

Once again, dear audience, thank you for your patience!

My new, tailor-made shirt!